ED Arrested Tarun Khosla In Dunkey Route Case

The arrest of a Delhi ticketing agent on 23 October 2026 under money laundering provisions has brought into focus an alleged network that collected substantial sums from people seeking entry to the United States only to route them through South and Central American countries before attempting irregular border crossings. Cash deposits of 30.38 crore in 414 transactions over three financial years combined with seizures of cash gold and silver valued at 19.14 crore from premises linked to the agent paint a picture of high volume financial activity that requires careful tracing to the journeys arranged.

Communications recovered during searches refer to coordination with overseas contacts for passenger handling immigration clearance payments and onward movement while agents in Punjab and Haryana are said to have funnelled passports and payments to a central point in Delhi. The human cost appears in the financial vulnerability of those who paid 30 lakh to 60 lakh each and in the physical risks of multi country transit that left many deported and without the lawful status they had been led to expect. 

The investigation that culminated in the arrest of Tarun Khosla began after more than 300 Indian nationals were deported from the United States in February 2025 following their alleged illegal entry through the Mexico border.

Police cases registered in Punjab and Haryana provided the foundation for the Enforcement Directorate to examine the financial proceeds generated by the network rather than confining itself to the travel itself.

On 9 and 11 July 2025 the agency conducted searches at 19 locations and recovered documents records digital devices and materials including bogus visa and immigration stamps pertaining to countries such as Nicaragua and Ethiopia. Provisional attachment of movable and immovable property valued at approximately 5.41 crore followed on 15 December 2025 covering agricultural land residential and commercial premises and bank balances said to be associated with proceeds generated by agents involved in the wider operation.

Searches on 18 and 19 December 2025 at multiple locations across Punjab Haryana and Delhi resulted in the recovery of cash amounting to 4.62 crore gold bars and coins weighing approximately 5.9 kg and silver bars weighing approximately 313 kg from premises identified as belonging to Khosla with a combined stated value of 19.14 crore. Additional recoveries during the broader operation included more than 50 original third party passports diaries transaction records property documents and digital devices.

Tarun Khosla was arrested on 23 October 2026 and produced before a Special PMLA Court in Jalandhar the following day before being remanded to Enforcement Directorate custody until 30 October 2026. The agency issued its formal press release on 27 October 2026 detailing the allegations against him and the material recovered.

Tarun Khosla operated as a Delhi based ticketing agent through his proprietorship firm M/s BJ International. The Enforcement Directorate has identified him as a key facilitator and decision maker within the suspected network. Agents operating in Punjab and Haryana are said to have collected passports and payments from individuals aspiring to reach the United States and then handed these materials over to Khosla in Delhi. This placed him at the junction where local recruitment met centralised travel arrangements.

He is said to have arranged visas and air tickets for transit countries that included Guyana Suriname Ecuador and El Salvador among others. The purpose of these longer routes was to move travellers towards the United States through a sequence of jurisdictions before the final irregular crossing. Communications recovered from mobile phones allegedly recovered during searches refer to coordination with an international contact for airport assistance passenger handling ticket arrangements collection of money for immigration clearance and payments in US dollars.

The same communications are said to name or use aliases for foreign contacts described as Mike in Mexico Ali in Brazil and Kristi in Mexico who managed local intermediaries referred to as donkers and related payments for onward movement. The investigation has also identified arrangements involving visa clearances for South American countries and allegedly forged yellow fever vaccination certificates. These elements together portray a role that extended beyond ordinary ticketing into route selection pricing decisions and overseas coordination.

The financial trail forms one of the most substantial elements of the investigation. Bank records of M/s BJ International show cash deposits totalling 30.38 crore across 414 transactions during the financial years 2022-23 2023-24 and 2024-25. The average size of these deposits calculated from the total and the number of transactions stands at approximately 7.34 lakh per transaction. These figures represent deposits into a single account rather than a verified profit figure or the complete turnover of the wider network.

The source of the funds the relationship between individual deposits and particular journeys the comparison with declared business activity and the ultimate destination of the money all require detailed tracing. The seizures of 4.62 crore in cash approximately 5.9 kg of gold and approximately 313 kg of silver from premises linked to Khosla with a combined stated value of 19.14 crore add another layer of assets that stand outside ordinary banking channels. Provisional attachment of properties valued at 5.41 crore on 15 December 2025 related to agents in the wider case and must be distinguished from the materials recovered from Khosla linked premises.

The two sets of enforcement actions concern different assets and different stages of the investigation. The scale of the cash deposits and the volume of precious metals recovered raise questions about the conversion of funds received from individuals who paid between 30 lakh and 60 lakh each into forms that could be held or moved with reduced visibility.

The alleged operational sequence began with recruitment. Agents and intermediaries approached people with the prospect of reaching the United States through legal channels. Documents and payments were collected and channelled to Delhi. Visas and tickets were then arranged for countries that offered a pathway toward the southern approaches to the United States.

Overseas contacts coordinated airport handling immigration related assistance and local intermediaries who facilitated the final stages of movement toward the border. The Enforcement Directorate has described the network as an organised business that earned large commissions from members of the public. The charges of 30 lakh to 60 lakh per person represent sums that would have required families to liquidate savings borrow heavily or sell assets. Those who paid on the understanding that they were purchasing a lawful immigration service found themselves instead on multi country routes that exposed them to the risks of irregular travel.

More than 300 individuals deported from the United States in February 2025 after alleged entry through the Mexico border illustrate the endpoint of many of these journeys. The distinction between those who organised the arrangements those who acted as intermediaries and those who paid for the service remains essential for understanding the structure of the network.

Documentary material recovered during searches includes more than 50 original third party passports diaries containing transaction records property documents and digital devices. Messages recovered from mobile phones refer to OK to Board endorsements passenger handling and coordination with airline or immigration personnel at foreign airports. Searches in July 2025 recovered materials that included bogus immigration stamps and bogus visa stamps.

Arrangements involving allegedly forged yellow fever vaccination certificates form another strand of the investigation. The presence of such materials raises questions about the methods used to clear travellers through intermediate airports and health checks. The authenticity of individual documents the identity of those who prepared or supplied them the travellers who carried them and the knowledge of the parties involved all require precise mapping through the underlying records.

Ordinary ticketing and legitimate visa assistance stand apart from arrangements that knowingly rely on false documents or seek to circumvent immigration requirements. The communications recovered must be examined in full context to determine the nature of the assistance sought and the role of each participant.

The timeline of the investigation shows a progression from the February 2025 deportations and the registration of police cases in Punjab and Haryana through the July 2025 searches that recovered documents digital devices and bogus stamps to the December 2025 provisional attachment of properties valued at 5.41 crore and the subsequent multi location searches that yielded cash gold and silver valued at 19.14 crore from premises linked to Tarun Khosla.

The arrest on 23 October 2026 and the custody remand until 30 October 2026 followed more than a year of investigative activity. The press release issued on 27 October 2026 consolidates the agency findings regarding the operational role of the arrested individual the scale of the cash deposits and the materials recovered. The provisional attachment and the later seizures represent separate enforcement actions and the figures associated with each should not be aggregated as a single recovery attributable to one person.

The human dimension of the case centres on the individuals who paid substantial sums in the expectation of lawful migration. The amounts of 30 lakh to 60 lakh per person would have placed severe pressure on household finances. Those who undertook the journeys faced multi country transit under arrangements that the Enforcement Directorate has described as irregular and dangerous. The risks of exploitation unsafe transportation extortion and detention form part of the broader environment in which such routes operate.

Deportation from the United States carried both financial loss and immigration consequences for those involved. The network is said to have operated as a profit driven enterprise that converted migration aspirations into high value transactions while the ultimate outcome for many participants was removal and the forfeiture of the sums paid. The recovery of passports diaries and transaction records provides potential avenues for identifying the individuals who paid and the agents who collected from them.

The financial records of M/s BJ International showing 30.38 crore in cash deposits across 414 transactions over three financial years form a central investigative lead. The average deposit size of approximately 7.34 lakh and the concentration of cash activity over the period under examination require comparison with customer receipts ticket purchases visa expenses transfers to other parties and the firm declared turnover. The gold and silver recovered alongside 4.62 crore in cash represent assets that can be examined for acquisition history ownership and connection to the funds received from travellers.

The provisional attachment of properties valued at 5.41 crore related to agents in the wider case stands as a separate measure aimed at securing assets said to be linked to the generation of proceeds. The investigation continues to examine the relationship between the deposits the recovered assets and the journeys arranged through the network of agents and overseas contacts.

Communications referring to foreign contacts described as Mike in Mexico Ali in Brazil and Kristi in Mexico and to local intermediaries known as donkers form another strand of the material under examination. These contacts are said to have managed airport handling immigration clearance assistance and payments for onward movement.

The messages recovered from mobile phones also refer to the collection of money in US dollars and to coordination of passenger movements. The full content of these communications the identities of the parties involved and the nature of the services rendered require verification through the original devices and corroborating records. The names or aliases reported in the investigation material do not by themselves establish the full legal identities or the current status of any overseas individuals.

The recovery of materials including bogus stamps and references to allegedly forged vaccination certificates points to methods that may have been used to facilitate passage through intermediate jurisdictions. The investigation has identified arrangements for visa clearances in South American countries and the presence of stamps pertaining to Nicaragua and Ethiopia among the materials recovered in July 2025.

The precise use of any individual document the travellers involved and the knowledge of those who arranged or possessed the materials remain matters for detailed examination of the underlying evidence. The scale of the operation as reflected in the cash deposits the volume of precious metals and the number of passports recovered indicates an organised structure that moved people and money across multiple jurisdictions.

The case as presented by the Enforcement Directorate rests on the combination of financial records communications travel documentation and materials recovered during searches. The cash deposits of 30.38 crore the seizures valued at 19.14 crore the provisional attachment of properties valued at 5.41 crore and the operational details of recruitment visa and ticket arrangements overseas coordination and document related assistance together form the framework of the investigation.

The arrest of Tarun Khosla on 23 October 2026 and his placement in Enforcement Directorate custody until 30 October 2026 mark a significant procedural stage in the examination of the network that arranged journeys for Indian nationals through South and Central America toward the United States. The amounts paid by individuals the risks of the routes taken and the scale of the financial activity recovered continue to define the contours of the case as it proceeds through the investigative and judicial stages.